--------------------AUSSIE BRASCO--------------------
Unknown to many,(even most Australians) is that during the early to mid Nineties, two officers of the Victoria Police infiltrated the Griffith cell of a homegrown Calabrian Mafia, made up of members linked to prominent Ndrangheta figures in Italy.
At the time, the cell was operating a large scale marijuana operation, arranging the growing of huge "king crops" & wholesaling by the tonne. A single harvest netted millions in return, & at least two crops a year for decades had been the norm. At the time of the infiltration, the cell had moved into cocaine traffic, sourcing from South America & imported via Calabrian contacts.
The cell was then headed by Antonio Romeo, of a family well known in the area, who had married the daughter of the previous cell boss. As the new recognised leader, he & Rosario Trimbole, nephew to Aussie Bob, were the biggest scalps in the investigation, with both covicted along with a handful a lesser associates, & thereby losing major face in the eyes of the numerous other cells & their Calabrian superiors. Ultimately sentenced to 10 years each, Romeo's true sentence became apparent when he was killed on his orange orchid by an unknown gunman. As the leader, it is believed he bore the full responsiblity of having allowed the officers in question to get so close, since Rosario Trimbole has continued to operate in Griffith since being released.
The two officers have since retired from undercover police work, & as of 2010, both have released memoirs that reference their covert dealings with the Calabrian-Australian criminals comprisong the cell the infiltrated.
Of these two officers, Damian Marrett was the first to release his account of the operation. In was an interesting insight into the methods & mentality of the Calabrian-Australian criminal world.
Marret has kept his own site/crime blog up & running for some time now, & offers his own perspective & opinions he offers on topics updated regularly.
http://www.damianmarrett.com/
Unknown to many,(even most Australians) is that during the early to mid Nineties, two officers of the Victoria Police infiltrated the Griffith cell of a homegrown Calabrian Mafia, made up of members linked to prominent Ndrangheta figures in Italy.
At the time, the cell was operating a large scale marijuana operation, arranging the growing of huge "king crops" & wholesaling by the tonne. A single harvest netted millions in return, & at least two crops a year for decades had been the norm. At the time of the infiltration, the cell had moved into cocaine traffic, sourcing from South America & imported via Calabrian contacts.
The cell was then headed by Antonio Romeo, of a family well known in the area, who had married the daughter of the previous cell boss. As the new recognised leader, he & Rosario Trimbole, nephew to Aussie Bob, were the biggest scalps in the investigation, with both covicted along with a handful a lesser associates, & thereby losing major face in the eyes of the numerous other cells & their Calabrian superiors. Ultimately sentenced to 10 years each, Romeo's true sentence became apparent when he was killed on his orange orchid by an unknown gunman. As the leader, it is believed he bore the full responsiblity of having allowed the officers in question to get so close, since Rosario Trimbole has continued to operate in Griffith since being released.
The two officers have since retired from undercover police work, & as of 2010, both have released memoirs that reference their covert dealings with the Calabrian-Australian criminals comprisong the cell the infiltrated.
Of these two officers, Damian Marrett was the first to release his account of the operation. In was an interesting insight into the methods & mentality of the Calabrian-Australian criminal world.
Marret has kept his own site/crime blog up & running for some time now, & offers his own perspective & opinions he offers on topics updated regularly.
http://www.damianmarrett.com/
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